Barrett again denies emergency bid to block student loan forgiveness plan

Justice Amy Coney Barrett on Friday denied an emergency effort to block the Biden administration’s student loan forgiveness program, her second such ruling in recent weeks.

Barrett, who handles emergency matters arising from several Midwestern states, acted alone in denying the request, rather than referring it to the full court.

The brief, one-line order comes after the libertarian group Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) urged the court to block the president’s nationwide debt cancellation plan.

PLF was the first group to challenge President Biden’s loan forgiveness program in court, filing on behalf of one of its own attorneys in September. The group argued that Biden’s debt plan would cause irreparable harm to fellow PLF attorney Frank Garrison by automatically forgiving his debt and forcing him to pay state taxes on the forgiven amount.